Modi’s story over if he fails in 2014, but Rahul will be around: Jairam Ramesh

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has termed the 2014 general elections as a do-or-die battle for BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will continue to remain relevant even if the party doesn’t perform well in these elections.

The Congress party said it was not aware what Ramesh had stated in the interview.

In an interview to Reuters, Ramesh said: “If Modi loses 2014, his story is over, his balloon is burst. If (Rahul) Gandhi does not do well in 2014, he is still going to be around.”

Asked whether Modi’s campaign across the country was gaining momentum, Ramesh replied: “Modi-entum, not momentum. The BJP is a master of hype. I have seen them now for 20 years closely and they are the world’s greatest experts at hype.”

“Though India is right now in 2013, I would say, we are going through what Germany went through in 1932. The classic symptoms…..Because, look at Modi’s – what are the three principles of his ideology? Political autocracy, social divisiveness and economic liberalism,” Ramesh said.